This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For

Album Review

In a nutshell: pretty boys making ugly music. Sheffield, England's Bring Me the Horizon sketch out their frantic, aggressive, skittish, retching, and often wonderful brand of metalcore with this debut EP — aptly named This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For. Vocalist Oliver Sykes immediately establishes his English-ness with a desperate, grindcore-derived howl that says "You're stabbing me while I sing this" — as opposed to the death metal growl preferred by most American metalcore bands, which says "I'm stabbing you while I sing this." He also backs up his typically stream-of-conscience lyrics with helpful explanations about their origins, which may or may not matter if you've come here for the band's very challenging, but never boring musical displays. Packed with killer-fudge riffs, dissonant squawks imitating horns from hell, and even occasional bits of straight-ahead thrash (see standout "Rawwwrr!!"), these obviously owe a great debt to bands like Job for a Cowboy and the Red Chord, among others, but Bring Me the Horizon, may just have enough personality to compete.